Duchess Material by Emily Sullivan
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
DUCHESS MATERIAL is a sizzling delight! Phoebe Atkinson gets in trouble with the law searching for one of her students. She sends for help to an old family friend—Will. Who just happens to be the Duke of Ellis and is practically engaged to Lady Gwen. He gets her out of trouble but Phoebe isn’t about to give up on her student. Together they search for the missing girl and discover secrets about high society members and their own hearts.

It’s the perfect PRIDE AND PREJUDICE retelling but with original characters with their own unique problems. Like in Jane Austen’s beloved classic, both characters are forced to grow before they can achieve their happy ending. A positively charming read!

I can’t wait to read more adventures from the Atkinson sisters!

Content: a few bedroom scenes 🌶️🌶️🌶️

I really enjoyed this book!
It's always nice to read a historical romance that doesn't do the expected. In this case, a woman - Phoebe - who, despite her family being well-off and part of Society, chooses to work as a teacher. While it is probably because her family is of self-made wealth, Phoebe refuses to rely on others to find her own path in life.

Similarly, the aristocrat in the story, the Duke of Ellis, also known as Will Margrave, the childhood best friend of Phoebe's older sister, grew up not knowing he would become a Duke.

The combination of these two characters is delightful. Two people who have not lived their full lives among Society, but now feel its pressures and expectations, while trying to find their own paths in life.

I'm a sucker for a historical romance that has a bit of a mystery in it and this book did not disappoint, with Phoebe needing the Duke's assistance in the search for a student who has gone missing. This forces the two of them to spend time together, reckoning with their growing attraction, and figuring out if and how they can be together. I thought the mystery aspect made sense, and it also tackled some very real social issues of the day, and still persist in various forms.

This was my first book by the author and I'll definitely be putting her earlier books on my TBR and will look forward to more books from her in the future.

Thanks to the publisher for an eARC; all opinions are my own.

A very enjoyable late Victorian romance between a bluestocking heroine and a starchy hero who gradually gets unstarched. There are several Pride and Prejudice (book and BBC miniseries) allusions that were fun without being too heavy handed. The mystery of the heroine's missing student is not as much of a focus as the description implies, but I found that it didn't bother me. The dynamic between the heroine and her sisters was entertaining and clearly setting for a series. I'll definitely be looking out for the next title!

*unexpected dukedom
*bluestocking
*mystery
*second chance
*chemistry / emotions
*character development
*great side characters

I adored Duchess Material - I found it very fun, highly enjoyable and I’m hoping this was a series starter and that we’ll get Phoebe’s sisters’ stories in the future!

This was my second time reading Ms Sullivan’s work and I will definitely read more 🙂


Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the DRC

This was a really enjoyable historical romance.
It read fresh and engaging to me. I have had trouble reading lately and really appreciated how easy to read this book was to me.
It has the right balance of action and tension and tender intimacy to make me care deeply for the characters.
We get a duke who is so focused on fulfilling all the duties of his position to the best of his abilities, that he has lost his true self. Not raised to be a duke, Will Margrave takes his responsibilities very, very serious. And is now looking for a wife, but not just any wife but the perfect duchess.
Until, a friend from his past comes back into his life. Phoebe Atkinson is the furthest from a perfect duchess anyone can be. She is a school teacher, lives on her own and is currently in the search of a student of hers who has gone missing.
They are the perfect pair and bring out the best in each other. What seems impossible at the start become unavoidable in the end.
A bit of a mystery/thriller plot, some family tensions (no full-fledged drama but some issues that needed to be resolved) though the focus is really on the romance.
There is a lovely note at the end of the book about the author's inspiration for the story and I really liked it.

I was very much looking forward to this as my first Emily Sullivan. The cover is beautiful and I was interested in the premise/tropes including childhood crush, second chance, bluestocking x unexpected dukedom. But the romantic arc did not work for me. Will’s insistence that Phoebe isn’t good enough for him?? How is that romantic? And he leaves her, leaving HER to seek him out and she is the one to apologize? And he never verbalizes a declaration of love? No thank you. This is very disappointing. I have heard wonderful things about Sullivan’s other books though and will continue to support her within this sub genre.

DNF. I was really excited for this book because I adore estranged childhood friends to lovers, and the premise sounded fun, but the execution on this one was boring for me. Phoebe seemed like she was martyring herself, and her sisters were more interesting to me as a reader. Will was also a bit dull and complacent — “oh the former Duke was a conservative, so I guess I should be too, even if I don’t really agree with it.” I can tell that Phoebe will challenge this for him, and I don’t think it’s her responsibility to turn him into a decent person. I didn’t want to stick around and watch him flounder until he grew a backbone.

Enchanting. This was a new author read that was delightful. There is history between the hero and the heroine which I really enjoyed. the reader gets to see how they grow beyond their childhood and beyond the place where they first began :). Free ARC from NetGalley for honest review.

This one took me a few chapters to get into, but once I did I couldn’t put it down!

Content: open door
I think I skipped two, maybe three scenes. Conversations had during those scenes were referred back to later. So I did feel like I missed a little bit of the story, but not enough to have a negative impact.

I love Emily Sullivan's books because they're both the familiar histrom archetypes but with elements that make them feel so fresh, whether it be different settings or strong female characters forging their own paths. I enjoyed the light mystery element of this one as well. A great read!

Starchy reluctant duke falls apart for a blue stocking sister of his friend who used to have a crush on him. Should’ve been a home run for me but Will’s entire arc was overcoming “she’s not good enough for me”. No nuance at all. And I struggled to see that he loved her. He doesn’t even say it. But what was worse was that Phoebe always assumed she wasn’t good enough for him either.

Some long expositions and the ending draaaagged. But I’m curious about Alex and Freddie even though Will and Phoebe were lukewarm.

ARC Review: Duchess Material by Emily Sullivan
Pub Date: November 19, 2024

I have adored all of Emily's books and this one is no exception! It has a really good balance of plot and romance and I rooted for the relationship the entire way. I'm super excited to see more books in this series and more from Emily in general!

Phoebe is a teacher at a school for disadvantaged girls. When one of her most promising students goes missing, she reluctantly works alongside Will, Duke of Ellis. To Phoebe, Will is just Will - the boy that she grew up with and pined after but who is now so far out of her league.

I will say it took me about 40% of the book to really get into it but I think that was more my mood than anything else because once I got into it, I adored all of the characters. I love reading in the Victorian era and really appreciated the author's note at the end of the book. I loved how fiercely independent Phoebe is and seeing her choose her own path that is so different from the rest of her family. I think Phoebe and Will's relationship was really well rounded - they sometimes said the wrong thing but always came back and apologized. As I always say - communication is sexy!

Thank you to Forever for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was really fun. I loved how strong the women characters were, and the timeline of the relationship between Will and Phoebe seemed realistic. I always get frustrated when a book relationship moves too quickly, and this one was perfect. I also enjoyed the mystery of Alice. I’m hoping we get another book with the sisters.

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC

It was fine. An average cutsey read, was not anything new or wild. I became more interested in what her sister Alex's story might be after a while

Duchess Material was a super cute second chance romance with a sprinkle of mystery. It was sexy, adventurous, and fun! I really loved Phoebe and was rooting for her! I do agree with other readers that Will wasn’t my favorite match for her. I was definitely most interested in the finding of the student and Phoebe and her sisters in general. They were fun to read about!

I liked a lot about the set up of this story. Second chance. Childhood crush. Unexpected dukedom. Bluestocking. Liberal politics. Getting revenge on cruel hypocrites. Fun sisters.

The romance just didn’t work for me. Will’s almost book long insistence that Phoebe isn’t good enough for him being resolved by her apology was disappointing. I didn’t buy his character arc at all.

I loved Sullivan’s other books though and am looking forward to the rest of this series.

We have Phoebe, a badass schoolteacher on the hunt for her missing student, and Will, her girlhood crush turned seemingly pretentious Duke. In an unlikely circumstance, they team up to find the missing girl -- only they discover a lot more about each other and their unresolved feelings along the way.

Well-written, adventurous, sexy, and a quick read!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.)

This was, unfortunately, not for me. The "duke struggles with the burden of his title and falls in love with a woman *beneath* him" premise is one thing, but when it's clear the entire character arc will be said duke discovering a woman he supposedly admires and respects isn't actually going to ruin his life and standing, I just don't care to watch him grow. I want him to trip in a mud puddle and then forget he ever existed. This set-up is a favorite for many readers, and I respect that watching starchy people fall apart is the draw, but this MMC wasn't starchy so much as deeply impressionable and unmotivated. He did not once tell the FMC he loved her, and waited at every turn for her to apologize for having any expectations of him at all. His inner monologue was grating. I think I have some fairly ingrained biases against this style MMC and others may not find him as off-putting.

Phoebe y Will eran amigos hasta que él heredó el ducado y tuvo que irse para aprender sobre sus responsabilidades. No se vieron por años, cada uno hizo su vida, ella se convirtió en maestra y él es un exitoso duque quien está en busca de una esposa.


Me gustó como Phoebe le fue abriendo los ojos y que el fuera más consiente de su privilegio y de como sus acciones y propuestas en el parlamento podían cambiar la vida de la gente ya fuera para bien o para mal.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A TOTAL WINNER. What a delightful read from Emily Sullivan. This book has absolutely everything. I want to give this book to all of my friends and shake them until they read it!